Roofing material



Patnte'd Feb. 23, A1926.

c U/NIIED l,STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CORNELIUS S. FLEMING, OF BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA, AOSSIGNOR T0 'THEPARAFFINE COMPANIES, INC., OF SAN WARE.

FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION or DELA- nOoFINe'MA'rnnIAL; i i

e Application led Novemberl 28, 1921'. Serial No. 518,281.

ToV all whom it may concern.' p

Be it known that I, CORNELIUS S. FLEM- INC., a citizen of the UnitedStates. of

N and particularly to roofings comprising a fibrous base impregnatedwith bituminous VAcompound and surfacedwith a .wearing coating on one orboth sides of generally harder bituminous material.

One of the objects of the invention is the production of a roofinghaving greater attractiveness and -much greater durability than ordinaryroofings o the same general type. Another object is the provision of aroofing material ea able of being acked for sale in rolls which does notem ody a heavy percentage of materialI whichadds little or nothing tothe value of the material as roofing but which has hitherto been foundnecessary to prevent the Convolutions of the roll from stickingtogether.

My invention possesses other objects and features of'advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing,`. will be set forth in the followingdescription of my invention. It is to be understood that I do not limitmyself to the showing made by the said description, as I may adoptvariant forms of my invention within the sco e of the claim.

Fig. 1 is a sectlonal View taken thru a piece of roofing made inaccordance with my invention, the scalev of the component portions beingsomewhat exaggerated to more clearly indicatethe structure. Fig. 2r is aside elevation of a portion of the machine on which my roofing ismanufactured. The

View is largely in diagram. 4

y 'Inthe manufacture of Ordinary felt roofl ings, a fibrous base offelted material is im-V 45 pregnated with a bituminous compound andthenja harder wearing coating of bituminous compound is applied. Inorder to prevent thematerial from sticking together in soapstone,limestone, mica, slate, or other` mineral powder. Sometime. wood flourhas been used for the purpose. After vthe roof l lhas been leid, thismaterial washes away or the rolls in which it is customarily sold, the.

is blown from the roofing and is of'little value in imparting durabilityor wearing qualities to the product. For one square,I that is 100 squarefeet, of roofing made according to the usual practice about'21/ 60-pounds of wood flour must be used to coat the roofing On both sides, or,if soapstone is used about five pounds is re uired. Thus it willkbe seenthat in a roll o l roofing con- Y taining one square and wei hing 42`pounds 65 there will be but 391/2 poun" s of felt and asl halticmaterial `in the roll, the` remainder eing the wood powder used torevent adhesion, or, if soapstone is use the purchaser actually receivesbut 37 pounds of roofing material. y f

I have found that one of the substances commercially known as bronzingpowders may be substituted in this surface coating for the soapstone orother mineral matter or wood flour with marked advantages. The materialpreferred is aluminum bronze powf der which imparts a silver-likeappearance 'to the roofing when laid. The rade of aluminum bronze knownas ine is well adapted for the purpose,y although coarser grades may beused, and as little as 4 ounces of it is suflcient to coat one square ofroofing on both sides.A This quantity will efectually prevent'thesticking of the material in the roll and it shows no vtendency towardabsorption into the coating' materials onv the base'. fiber even whenstored in warm locations.

- It will\thus be seen that in a 42 pound roll of.

my roofing, the purchaser receives'nothing but roofing, 41% pouds offelt and asphaltic material and 1/4 pound of metallic'sur-A Y facingwhich greatl enhances 'the wearing qualities of the roofs.' Bronzingpowder is in the form of nel divided flakes and when applied to the rooing material in accordance with myinvention the overlapping flakesspread out scalelike over the surface of the wearing coating on whichthey are adhesivel)7 and securely held. As the weather, including"` inthe term sunlight, the oxidation of theair and the impact of rain, isthe cause of deterioration in bituminous roofing, anything whichservesas acomplete covering of the bituminous coating and which formsoverlapping plates or Hakes and is opaque, as is metal, acts to` l' keepweather influences entirely away-from the bituminous material and hereinliesthe reason for the high durabhty characteria- 110 ing my roong.Mica, it is true, formsiiakes upon the surface to which it is applledbutthe mica coating is transparent andthe light striking thru to thebitumen sets up photochemical reactions which break down the bitumen andrelease the mica fiake from its adhesion. The fact that the metalliccoating achieved in my process is especiall effective in preventingdeterioration o the underlying bituminous layers is evidenced in thefailure of such coatings to check or crocodile on exposure when surfacedwith the metallic powder.

In Fig. 1 I have shown a section of roofing made in accordance with myinvention. The base material 2 may be rooting felt saturated with asemi-solid asphalt or it may be a Iburlap saturated or partiallysaturated with asphalt or oils and having further quantities of asphaltor bituminous compounds forced into its meshes. If desired this base orfoundation material may also be a bitu'minous' composition in sheet formbut not involving a ibered, felted, or woven sheet or fabric as afoundation. That is, it may be a composition, plastic at elevated temfperature and rolled or otherwise fabricated into sheet form suitable tobe a base for roolings. Or, it may be a plurality of individual sheets.cemented or secured together by suitable means as by an asphaltiecement. Upon-the surface of the base material are appliedcoatings 3 ofbituminous compounds. Such a coating may be prepared bymelting andapplying with rollers, D grade California asphaltum, which may haveincorporated in it fillers of powdered mineral, orl

may be mixed with other bituminous materials properly to temperate itand give it durability. This coating ma be ap lied to only one side ofthe base i desirel The coating may assume the form of that illustratedin United States Letters Patent No. 1,357,920 granted to HerbertAbraham, Nov. 2, 1920, in which the coating contains unfelted fiber andconstitutes the 'major partk of the roofing, being applied to vbut oneside of the base felt. Upon the surface of the wearing coat 3 is ap liedthe finely flaked metallic' particles or ronzing powder 4: in sufficientquantity to secure a one flake deep coverage. The minute flakes 4 tendto remain in place on the surface instead of sinking into the body ofthe material and are applied before the wearing coatin has fullyhardened. Not only is the dura ility'.

of the roong wonderfully increased b the coating of metallic' Hakes buta building material is secured of genuinely attractive appearance andcapable of artistic treatment wholly new in prepared rooings. Copperbronze powder-may bev used to secure a `cop er red effect, or 'goldbronze to give a gol en color to the roofing. v

In Fig 2 I have shawn, legali ,is dagram, an apparatus which, whenincorporated with the usual roofing making machine, may be used to makemy roofing. rllhe apparatus shown in Fig. 2 is installed in the roofingmaking machine at the point applied over the impregnated or saturatedfelt or fabric which constitutes the base of the finished product. Thiscoating of wear-l ing material has not yet fully hardened after beingspread in a heated condition and is adapted to receive-and retain apowdered or granular material sprinkled upon it. This is. accomplishedby means of a vibrating box 7 from the foraminated bottom of which theliaked metallic particles are sifted over the web 6 as it passes belowthe box in the direction shown by the arrow 8. The box is ivoted at oneend and is shaken by a multi-toothed cam 9 on each side of the web 6 andarranged to be engaged by arms 11 extending from the free end of thebox. The cams 9 are both fixed on a shaft 12 rotated by suitableconnection with a convenient portion of the roong making machine and asthe cams revolve the box rises and falls thus effecting a sprinkling ofthe contents of the box upon the web. If that grade of bronzing powderknown as line is used the bottom of the boX 7 may be formed of 60-meshwire. A speed of 100 revolutions per minute of a six point cam, and 100feet travel per minute for the roofing will'giv'e good results.

After receiving a coating of the finely llaked material on its uppersurface, the web passes around a water-cooled drum 13 to which it isprevented from adhering by the powdered material already a plied. Meansare provided at this point or applying a coating of the metallic powderto the underside of the web. Secured to a rod 14, suitably supportedbelow the drum 13, and extending below and partially around the drum isa receptacle 16 comprising a canvas or other fabricsheet or bag, theupper end of which is rolled about a roller 17. A quantity 18 ofthe fineliaked material to be applied is ceptacle so'that as the we 6 passesabout the drum 13 its outer surface is brought into intimate contactwith the powder and is thoroughly coated thereby; From time to time theroller 17 is turned as the quantity of powder decreases to bring thereceptacle- 16 closer to the drum. Any suitable means may be used forthe control of the roller 125 17, such as the crank 19 and ratchet 2l.

From the drum 13, the web, now having a coating on both sides, passesover a drum 22, and a brush '23 engaging the surface to which the @atingWestra applied, .remove laced in the re- 'adheresto the underside oftheweb, but if yIlesary"abrush-similar to-Vthe -`brush 23 1 ,mayl arranged'againstathe 'back orv .un- `e'lerside of 'the -'we b tobrush thesurfplus 2.516; y y It lisof course obvious'that onlyone 'side "of theweb may be treated. instead ofb'oth 15'" sides since the side-of vtheIOOfillg- MKM th/e sheathing 5 boardslis not subject toweather exposuresand under ordinary conditions need not 'be -given the protective y.metallic I the bronzing powder,a proportion of powderused/to', replacesome lofy the bronzing pow'- 'den course the qualities ofya4 ".stillhighly attractive; and :under some con- -ditions, thefact'or of cost maymakethe'dipowkder',.iff any,bakintothereceptacle o v :A roofing havingavbase of fibrous material, a coat of bituminous material on the"fibrous' material, a surface coating of fine'A -ly ilalszed` metallicparticles adhesively reroofingso made-'are not equal tool-1e in whichthe surface is coated only with the metallic flakes,l but evenwith`considerable1` i admixtureof the lsoapstone, the coloi` is lutionof the metallicpowdrs advisable. I claim:

tained bythe bituminous coat in overlap- Aping. relation, in a manner'characterized by', the sprinkling'of said .particles on the bituminouscoat when the bituminous coat is (in asoftened heated condition.

11i testimony whereof, I h ve hereunto set i CORNELIUS S:;FLEMING' lf

